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Cassie Ramone sounds like a more confident guitarist, stretching out her leads, while the bass lines of Kickball Katy bubble out front to carry the melodies. And once again those melancholy harmonies are to die for, as Ramone chips off pieces of her heart in lamenting the boy who got away.
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Ali Koehler's surging drumming and Cassie Ramone's distorted, surfy guitar are compelling enough to make Everything Goes Wrong an entertaining 36 minutes.
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Vivian Girls have responded in a way I never saw coming. Everything Goes Wrong is, proudly and brilliantly, a long player.
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UncutEverything Goes Wrong is almost sickeningly good: songs are tight, short and fun, none outstay their welcome, all leave something behind in your brain as they rush to completion on a wave of multi-layered vocals, euphoric guitars and wall-of-chrome production. [Oct 2009, p.119]
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MojoYoung, smart, pissed-off, ultra-basic, but also competent and powerful, these youngsters fire off brisk, bubblegum tunes in proud thrall to Da Brudders, and, by extension, girl-groups of the '60s. [Dec 2009, p.96]
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It's weirdly kind of a grower. There's nothing that immediately jumps out and announces itself as the 'Where Do You Run' of Everything Goes Wrong.
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The songs are brief, noisy bursts, bratty but walloping. Rock diehards might scorn the weak solos, but Vivian Girls compensate with rock-solid rhythm and roughshod passion.
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While there's merit to the charges that songs suffer from sameness and that musicianship is a secondary facet of the band, the Girls' detractors don't consider tradition; walking in the footprints of Bikini Kill, Ramones, and other like predecessors who faced similar criticisms, their flaws serve to be their most interesting, differentiating features.
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Their "1-2-3-go!" rush--built around Cassie Ramone's scratchy guitar and Ali Koehler's insistent drums--is a thrill.
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It’s also not a record where you’re instantly gripped round the neck, it’s more a gradual clamping before nails start to dig deep into the skin.
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This is fun music that is all at once euphonic, brash, unsophisticated in its simplicity--but powerful for that same reason.
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The problem with Everything Goes Wrong is that the song structure at its core is very, very good. But that same song never varies.
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Everything Goes Wrong is not a brazenly experimental album, nor is it rootless and shifting for cohesion.
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Under The RadarEverything shows how a solid foundation of ideas can be steadily improved upon. [Fall 2009, p.68]
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Those who were taken with the band before will likely believe this album lives up to last year’s blog-induced hype. However, everyone else will probably think that Everything Goes Wrong is, well, no fun.
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Everything Goes Wrong is by no means a bad album, but there are other bands doing this same kind of thing, and doing it with better songs and a better sound.
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Most of their songs sound the same--warbled three-part harmonies over three-chord strumming--and the slick production only highlights that lack of breadth.
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There’s nothing particular catchy. No song stands out.
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With the beginnings of what could be a cult following over the pond after enviable live support slots that've received much praise, it is a shame that such positivity could not transfer to this recording.
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With 13 songs to sit through, it all sounds like the same riffs, verses, choruses, and rhythms in slightly different contexts. It also sounds like a big disappointment from a band that roared out of the gate with several nice 7-inch cuts and a strong debut album.
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Q MagazineAside from the cavernous 'Tension' mosty of the tracks here are disappointingly interchangeable. [Nov 2009, p.114]
User score distribution:
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Positive: 4 out of 7
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Mixed: 1 out of 7
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Negative: 2 out of 7
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eastsideSep 8, 2009